There’s no privacy with infant video monitors

We still have a video baby monitor on our youngest, Laura. She’s 5, but we never got around to taking it down. At bedtime, Laura and her older sister Kathryn will perform for each other in front of the camera while the other one is watching the monitor.

Last night when the girls went to bed, I turned on the monitor. All I could see was static and some form of interference. The camera to monitor connection is wireless. You can pick one of two channels and fiddle around with the antenna, but that’s about it. It’s very much like watching TV on a B&W portable, circa 1976.

As I fiddled around with the antenna, the view on Laura’s room disappeared and I could see an infant lying in a bed with a pacifier in his mouth. I called out to my wife, “Look, they canceled the Laura Show and replaced it with a new one.” We think this baby is our next door neighbor’s baby. They just had a baby boy a couple of months ago. I’m going to over and talk to them on the weekend and let him know that we are picking up their video signal.

For now, we have stopped using the monitor. Laura is will past the age of needing a monitor, and it feels too much like voyeurism to be watching and listening to someone else’s baby.